Yuanting Academy, Blue Porcin Mansion.


    This is a hotel within the academy, dedicated for use by visitors from outside the school, and now it''s also open to students who are here for the second round of exams.


    In the hotel''s second-floor restaurant, many students were dining, among them was Hexia.


    She ordered a T5 grade Scorched Red Fish set meal because she had never tasted this kind of fish in Payin City and wanted to try something new. Undoubtedly, the taste was really good. The sweet and tender fish had a slightly browned surface, and the apanying herbs made it rich in vor, greatly stimting the appetite.


    "You might as well stop looking around and trying; snakes don''t eat fish," she said.


    With the end of her chopsticks, the girl tapped the little snake slithering on the table, making it settle down a bit before she continued to eat.


    Her delicate light gray hair was soft and reached her shoulders. Because she had to give it her all in the retest, today Hexia wasn''t wearing sses, revealing her beautiful face. However, her figure was still slightly delicate and hadn''t fully developed. Among all the students there, she didn''t stand out too much.


    "Hello, may I sit here?" a short-haired girl with a simple headband approached her.


    "Of course," the girl looked around and noticed that the restaurant was getting increasingly crowded, which exined why this girl hade to share a table with her.


    Seeing the Indigo Snake coiled up on the table, the short-haired girl asked curiously, "Are you also here for the retest?"


    "Yes," she replied.


    "That''s awesome. I am too. Oh, and this is my ''partner,'' " she said, as if remembering something, flipped her backpack around, and from it, she cradled out arge crab with a blue back and white bottom.


    "Isn''t it mighty, ahahaha~" Sheughed as she introduced herpanion.


    "This is a ''Tidal Crab.'' They exist where Ie from. I never expected to find a partner with such greatpatibility during the retest~"


    "Oh, by the way, I''m Mianna, from the Northern Third District. What about you?"


    "I''m Hexia, from the Northern Seventh District."


    "The Northern Seventh District, huh? I''ve never been there, but seeing how pretty you are, Hexia, I always feel like it must be a nice ce."


    The girl shook her head, "Actually, it''s not that different from other parts of the north."


    While the two were getting acquainted, Mianna heard a call from not far away and immediately stood up.


    "Ok, I''ming right now!"


    "Hold on, let me get our lunch," she said, cing her backpack and the crab on the table, then hurried to the service window to take the te being handed out.


    The freshly cooked steak was sizzling on the ck te, giving off an enticing aroma and color.


    "Ahaha, I finally get to have a proper meal today." She picked up her knife and fork, looking eager to start.


    After cutting off a piece and savoring it, she chewed contentedly, enjoying the hot beefy texture.


    Then Mianna cut off anotherrge, oily piece of steak for the blue-shelled giant crab beside her, letting it feast as well.


    "I can''t shortchange my good partner," she said energetically.


    This kind of behavior left Hexia feeling a bit guilty, as if not giving the little snake some food was inhumane. But then she thought about it, feeding fish to a snake seemed strange, so she simply took out a bag of snacks and scooped out a handful of meat granules in front of the Indigo Snake.


    After getting to know each other a little, Mianna started up another conversation with Hexia. She was like a non-stop little fan,menting on everything she had seen on her way and various other gripes.


    "You''ve got to have a feast when youe to the Northern First District, after all. It would be a waste not to spend the money I managed to get from my old man."


    ...


    "There''s no way I could save money. He checks my wallet bnce, so I feel more at ease spending it sooner."


    ```


    ...


    "We have a bigke back home with lots of fish farming, so I''m already tired of eating fish. I''m quite interested in other meats, though."


    ...


    "Have you ever been to the Northern Third District, Hexia? Next time you visit, I can take you around. The sightseeing at the bottom of theke is actually quite nice."


    ...


    "The cities in the Northern Third District are mostly built on theke surface and shores, and the sunshine is very intense. My skin got tanned like this, not naturally dark."


    ...


    "Where there''s noke, thend is basically desert, but there are many sr power stations. They stretch out for miles, and sometimes you need to wear sunsses when you go out, or else the re could blind you."


    After the exchange, Mianna became interested in Payin City, where the girl lived.


    "Isn''t it stuffy and hot living underground? I remember a teacher saying that the closer you get to the ground, the stronger the geothermal heat."


    "That''s true, but the rockyer where Payin City is located is not actually low in absolute altitude, and it doesn''t reach the high-heat zones. The city has a cirction cooling system that expels the heat to the surface. Additionally, the underground river in Payin City also takes away a lot of heat, so the temperature is always quite stable."


    "That sounds pretty good, living underground seems safe." Mianna said that in the Northern Third District, all sorts of buildings and outdoor equipment need to be waterproofed, or they would easily break down.


    "Each has its advantages and disadvantages," the girl nodded.


    After lunch, the two headed together to the site for the fourth challenge, discussing the uing assessment along the way.


    "My partner is Tidal Sequence 2: Blue Pincer Crab. All it does are attacks with those big pincers, and it has a hard shell, but it''s not very agile. I don''t know what the final challenge will be like, but I have a feeling it will rte tobat and won''t be easy for us to pass."


    Hexia also introduced the sleepy little snake on her wrist. Having just been fed, it seemed to be drowsy; indeed, snakes usually spend most of their time resting except when hunting.


    "Are you saying you want your partner to be stronger?" After listening to the girl''s spection, Mianna started thinking too.


    "Exactly. It feels like these ''partners'' have a limited set of skills, but if we help them develop a bit, they could be stronger."


    "Right! Exactly, that''s it!" Mianna suddenly realized something.


    "The theme is ''bonding,'' so it''s definitely about making partners stronger. Otherwise, simplemands would be no different from a ve rtionship."


    "Making ''partners'' stronger emphasizes our value as contestants. Working together, side by side, that''s our ''bond.''!" She lifted her blue-shelled crab into the air, which shone under the sunshine.


    "But how do we do it? Quick training or finding a way to help it evolve?" She pondered the specifics.


    Evolving, huh? Hexia thoughtfully looked at the little snake on her wrist, then picked up her personal terminal and started to search through the vast online database.


    There were many paths for snakes to evolve. Some aimed for transformation into dragons, to be like those powerful Dragon Species from myths. Others aimed to enhance their inherent Talents. Some turned into legendary creatures from ancient tales, and others aimed to enhance their Abilities, such as auxiliary ones. After all, in modern society, thebat abilities of transcendent animals were limited, but their other social functions were far more significant, like in ''Dream of zed ss,'' where Botis rarely trained her venomous creatures forbat, instead, treating them as a source of venom production.


    After skimming through introductions and research papers, Hexia also came up with an idea.


    "Hexia." Suddenly, Mianna''s voice rang in her ear.


    "What is it, Mianna?" The girl cautiously stepped back half a step, not because she disliked Mianna but due to a long-held reflex.


    "Can you help me look up the evolution paths for the Tide Caller Crab?" She held herrge crab in front of the girl, shaking it, while it blew bubbles.


    "Sure." It wasn''t really a big deal, so the girl nodded in agreement.


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    So they were no longer in a rush to go to the assessment point and instead sat under a tree on the grass, flipping through and discussing the information.


    Time quietly slipped by.


    ```